


Danganronpa: Unfortunate Waters

by UltimateProtagonistNerd



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Dangit Ron Paul, Dystopian, Fangan Ronpa, Gen, Murder Mystery, Names of the OCs in the tags, Science Fiction, Shooty Refutey, Thriller, killing game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-09-21 11:13:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9546377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateProtagonistNerd/pseuds/UltimateProtagonistNerd
Summary: 16 High School students wake up together on a Luxury Cruiseliner, despite the fact today was supposed to be their first day at the Fortunate River Academy, a school with a program based on it's sister academy Hope's Peak.On this boat an animatronic bear calling himself Monokuma claims that he's the captain of the vessel and headmaster of their school before forcing them all into a game where the only way to win is to murder one of their classmates and use deception to avoid being caught.





	1. The Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 16 High School Students wake up aboard a cruise ship, Monokuma makes sure that any possibility of them leaving any time soon disappears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the thing I was talking about in my final announcement post on my "Luxurious Cruiseliner of Despair" story. That was just a test to give an example of what would be featured in this story. As such, there are quite a few differences. I decided to flesh out personalities a little more and change out some of the characters I was less fond of for ones I developed after I began writing about this set. I also changed a few of the characters names and backstories for more originality.
> 
> And the murder this time around won't be the same as it was last time, so if you loved the characters that died in that case, then you'll be happy to see them stick around longer in this one.
> 
> As such, I hope this is viewed as a massive improvement. So comment down below what you're liking so far and maybe even speculate about what role everybody will play (aside from the protagonist since that's obvious): Who will the survivors be? Who is the mastermind? What is their motive? (Is it ~complex~?) Who are the Trial-Point-Getters going to be? What relationships will form? And perhaps the most important... who's going to be the first to die?

All over the world there were prestigious institutions of learning. Many admitted of these admitted their select few based on high test scores. And even then the overall costs of attending were horrifyingly large. Unless you got in on a scholarship there was no way for somebody trapped in poverty to use them as a springboard to escape and rise up out of that life. This led them to be dominated by the dynasties of the rich and powerful even if their students weren't on par with their previous generations or even their other peers.

But there were those like Hope's Peak Academy and later schools based on it's "Ultimate" model had one slight difference. Yes, many of the fabulously wealthy families sent their children their in hopes of them receiving a top-notch educational experience that the school's reputations promised. And for the reserve course students payed up the wazoo for admission. This new model allowed those with absolute talent in their fields to be discovered and properly appreciated. and honor their efforts by allowing them to join the elites.

These schools even went as far to hold lotteries every single year to select a random high school student to join the list of Ultimates, despite these teenagers being completely average.

Aside from certain international sister schools, a handful more were opened up in the nation of Japan.

And here I was, standing in the shadows of one of these schools, invited due to myself being one of the youngest legal prodigies in the nation. They have gifted me the title of Ultimate Prosecutor after my career was jumpstarted by a murder case my father had taken up involving an infamous terrorist and vigilante killer. Halfway through the trial disaster had struck and he had to be carted off to the hospital after collapsing onto his desk from a heart attack, leaving my to jump over the audience railing and put the case away, finally locking up that menace to society. After that I was- oh, right... Heh, guess I got carried away and forgot to introduce myself.

My name is Takumi Funane. I recently was accepted to Fortunate River. And today was the first day of class. I could hear the river that gave this institution it's name rushing out in the distance. The campus was truly one of the most beautiful instances of architecture I've ever seen.

But then I couldn't see it any more after touching the doors handle. My eyesight became blurry, and a throbbing headache started up. The noise of the river was replaced with auditory hallucinations, specifically of people's voices. And for a second I could have sworn to see their faces, but the details were to blurry to make out. The voices told me:

"...despair."

What?

"Remember to never fall into despair..."

Never fall...

"No matter what happens to you, don't second guess your hope."

Some time past, I'm not sure how much time it was in the slightest, but it felt like hours at the very least, I finally opened my eyes and saw normally again. The burning headache had subsided and I found myself in a poorly lit room. My first thought was that somebody had taken me to the school nurse or the nearby hospital after I fainted, but that wasn't the case.

The room I was in felt like it was a bedroom and I felt rocking underneath me, as though floating on the ocean. I rolled over, flinging myself off the bed, crawling to my knees and trying to steady myself. I grabbed hold of the wall for better balance. It was warm in here... wherever "here" was. It was some kind of boat, most likely a Cruise Ship.

Groggily, I shuffled myself out of the room and into a bright hallway, I shielded my eyes and looked downwards, leaning up against the wall. I was unaware of anybody else being in my vicinity until I heard a girl's voice somewhere nearby.

"Oh! It looks like there was still another one left after all."

I turned around to get a look at her. She was about half a foot shorter than I was, wearing a beige school uniform with white cuffs and collar. Her dark green skirt was short and ruffled, and her socks cut off at the knees. Her chestnut brown hair cascaded in waves encircling her face down to her chin, and the stare of her green eyes pierced up into mine.

She continued, "Uh, hello there? Earth to Purple vest man? You're staring off into space... Houston, we have a problem!" she got up in my face, waving a hand.

I wondered out loud, "P-purple vest man? O-oh! Yeah." I decided it was probably best to introduce myself to her and move this along. "Damn, sorry, I'm Takumi Funane."

She was still pressing me for more, "And you're another student? Right?"

"Another student? So, I'm guessing you're attending Fortunate River Academy too?"

"Yup!" this girl exclaimed. "Kuri Gotagota! My talent is the Ultimate Lucky Student, so I'm just you're ordinary school girl that was smiled upon by Lady Luck!" she chirped merrily.

Putting our introductions to rest, I decided to pursue my own line of questioning. "You said there were more students here right?"

"Yeah?" her brow furrowed. "Counting you I think there's like... sixteen of us?"

"Where are the others?"

"Uuuuh. well before I was sent out for a final sweep everyone was gathered together in the ship's Mess Hall. And here I come upon you, Sleepyhead McPurplevest!"

"I thought I told you my name a moment ago."

She looked back pensively, "Er, could you not tell that was supposed to be a joke, Takumi McSersBzness?"

"S-sorry, still groggy. You said they gathered in the Mess Hall right? Could you lead me there Kuri?"

"Sure thing!", she grabbed my hand, "Come this way!" This flustered me a little bit with how sudden contact was being made. Red-faced and meekly grasping back I did my best to keep up pace with her in spite of my legs not feeling quite ready.

We got there in the matter of a few short moments, many students were spread across a large room with two large dining tables inside. All of them, no matter what they were in the middle of doing stopped and turned to face us after she threw the doors open. This didn't help my blush at all.

She let go, and cupped her mouth with her two hands, calling to the others. "We're here! I got the last one, so we can't end the introductions until the new guy meets all of you too!"

I was first approached by a pair of twin sisters (I could tell due to their faces looking exactly the same, and the similar height). One of them wore a ratty looking hoodie, gigantic golden studded belt and blue streaks in her hair and the other clad in a white basketball uniform numbered 64, with a short black pixie cut staring forward stoically.

The one in the hoodie came up to me with a fist up, ready to bump, "Yooo, what iz up new guy? I'm Rin. This is my sister Marisa, but she's a total stick in the mud, man."

I took a look over to her sister at that statement, finding that there was actually a tiny bit of a smile in how the ends of her lips curled up, hardly detectable if you weren't looking carefully enough. This one held her hand out slowly, speaking quietly, and surprisingly firm, "I am the Ultimate Basketball Star, and if you couldn't tell, my sister holds the title of Ultimate Skater." I thought for a moment about how I had read news online about some of their accolades and accomplishments before the next person approached.

Immediately after exiting that train of thought I was greeted by a man of small stature with a shaved head, wearing traditional robes, bowing his head to me. "Greetings, my friend, I am Seiki Sennami, and my title is the Ultimate Monk. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." This guy's title was too perfect, he exuded an aura of tranquility like nobody I had met before. He could easily be an understudy to the Dalai Lama.

He was followed by a guy straight out of some adventure movie. Digging helmet from under which his bright red bangs hung out of, khakis, work boots, and a face covered in bandages. This guy flashed a toothy grin while giving a thumbs-up motion. "Oi, welcome mate, I'm Masaru Taira, Ultimate Paleontologist. So if you need to know anything about fossils, I'm your guy."

Someone wound up tapping my shoulder, interrupting me before I could further converse with him. When I looked over behind me I almost succumbed to a heart attack. A face fully enclosed behind a crazy looking breathing apparatus. I must have looked like I was scared shitless, because the woman wearing it took it off while erupting into hearty laughter.

"Gotcha bro! Ahahaha, you shoulda seen the look on your face!" This was apparently Nori Segawa, the Ultimate Graffiti Tagger and a professional troublemaker of the highest degree, before Hope's Peak she was suspended or expelled for over a dozen incidents of delinquency of various kinds. However, her artwork is said to be so powerfully moving that the people she vandalizes refuse to wash it off.

"Ah yes everybody, gather 'round to give a hand to Nori and her unintentional, unwitting comedy partner... er, what's your name again?" snarked a silver-haired male who was known as 'the Coolest Voice in Japan'. Eizen Terakado, with the eyes of his poker face forever masked by sunglasses. After I gave it to him, he completed it, drawing even more attention to me and almost causing my soul to want to leave my body from embarrassment.

"Gah, how shameful." A refined voice said, coming from behind me. "Not nearly as shameful as that outfit though. Have you tried wearing a scarf?" Underneath a quiff of blue hair lay a condescending smirk. This was the model known to the wider public only as "Ryunosuke", his visage plastered over several dozens of storefronts in order to sell the latest trendy accessories. But that wasn't all he was known for, ever since his childhood he had starring roles in multiple award-winning films.

I wanted to punch him in the jaw quite honestly.

Thankfully the next person I met with was far more tolerable. Floria Kirkland introduced herself to me, apologizing for the previous incident, which I outwardly shrugged off as "No big deal, really." This woman held a professional  aura about herself. She wore a white blouse and black vest as her top, black dress pants, suspenders, and a fedora with a 'press' tag stuck in the brim. My conversation with the Ultimate Reporter was civil and lovely, but my attention couldn't help but be drawn to the bandages wrapped around her left arm and hand. I didn't comment on it though.

"Hmm, let me guess..." A voice caught my attention, it's owner tapping her foot and clanged the bracelets covering her wrists together with a clap. Ai Mikumi, the Ultimate Astrologist as I would learn her to be, was standing before me. "Takumi, you are an Aquarius, born February the 2nd... Would you be interested in a daily horoscope reading?" So I told her that I'd think about doing it later.

Next up was somebody that I had trouble believing was even a high school student. This dude was more than likely over six and a half feet tall, but not quite seven. And RIPPED. Yoshi Minamoto was the Ultimate Blacksmith, and looking at him I could have sworn I saw his pecks flexing themselves underneath his black tank top. He was quite friendly, and I made a mental note to make sure it stayed that way between us, I wouldn't want someone of his size to become my mortal enemy or anything.

Finally, I headed to one of the tables where it seemed the last 4 students in my class were already seated. One of them was furiously typing away and clicking on the keys of a laptop. Suddenly this individual's fists slammed on the table and the computer hurdled with high velocity into my face, knocking my unconscious.

Upon waking up I was seated in one of the chairs, an ice pack held to the spot that was impacted by the rogue laptop. My vision came to and on either side of me were who I can only assume helped me up, and they were two of the classmates I hadn't met yet. And when I looked straight ahead again I was being apologized to emotionally.

The owner of that laptop had bright puffy orange hair, with two ahoges sticking up and back in the center, one was longer than the other. The mess of hair in front of my muttered about how he? she? they? didn't mean to hurt me like that, feeling so bad they had to sniffle a few times in the process. She was... actually kinda cute.

This was Chisote Gambaru, and she continued to grasp my hands in her own and whining about how she understood completely if I hated her now. I insisted everything was fine, and calmed her down. From what I gathered she's an InfoSec Specialist and was attempting to access files on her harddrive but kept getting "access denied" codes, and while trying to connect to the internet she discovered there was no wi-fi, which led to our ill-fated first interaction.

My two assistants were the Ultimate Thief, Satsuki Hiroyuki and the Ultimate Security Guard Baito Jikini. An odd tag team to say the least. Satsuki wore a beanie that covered most of her hair. I took notice of the details of her face. Tan skin, red eyes, and a smirk. Looking to my right at the Guard I examined him quickly as well. He no doubt had the spikiest hair among any of us, a birthmark of some kind right under his eye stretching along his cheek, and he too had red eyes with a similar glint in them to the girl beside me. I couldn't help but think they might be related.

They left me, and I got to hold my own ice pack as I turned and met with the final student.

"Well it seems that all of us are here now. My apologies about Chisote, I understand her frustrations. There's only one piece of tech left in this entire building that we know of and its that laptop. Except no files or internet connection are accessible. It truly is bizarre." commented a platinum blonde young man with thick, circular rimmed glasses.

"Anyway... I am Tessai, of the Togami Group."

"Ah... I did think you looked familiar. What's your talent?"

He tensed up, biting his lip at this. "I... don't actually remember that. I don't even recall receiving an acceptance letter from this school. I apologize for adding further mysteries and inconvenience before you."

I assured him, "Oh no! That's perfectly fine that you don't remember, maybe there's something around that will help you to remember?" Though I do have to wonder why he was hit harder by the amnesia than every other classmate. However, he stood up, clearing his throat now as though to give an announcement,

That was until the static crack of the PA system aboard the ship came to life with a bizarre voice. It was light, cheery, and unsettling. It was so cartoonishly out of place in this situation, and everybody looked to the speakers on the wall.

"Uhh, is this thing on? Mic check, mic check! Hmm" the cartoon voice said. "Greetings students! Seeing as everyone is here now, it's a good time to direct your attention to the back of the room!"

As it turns out, the back of the room was behind Mr. Togami's seat several meters away, where curtains pulled back to reveal a stage, complete with spotlights.

A sense of dread overcame me as some stuffed toy or animatronic bear appeared from a plume of smoke that rose from the stage, waving to us all. One half looked 'normal' and pure white, and the other side of this bear was black with jagged teeth and a red eye. It looked malevolent. The only piece of clothing it wore was a white ship captains hat.

"Welcome class! I am the headmaster of Fortunate River Academy, Monokuma! And I am also the captain of this fine vessel, which I thank the Togami family greatly for the donation of for this little class cruise!"

Tessai flinched. "Are you saying my family is putting this together? Is this another one of their tests for me?" He seemed to be getting agitated. "G-gh, tell them I already gave up on the Heir Competition already. Byakuya won fair and square by the rules of the game."

Monokuma raised a paw at the wealthy boy. "You listen here you punk. This isn't about them, this is about US, right here and right now. So quite hogging all the spotlight in your classes entrance ceremony, you don't want to be a show-off now do you?"

Togami clenched his teeth and seethed, turning away from the bear and admitting defeat for the time being to let the headmaster continue.

"You see, all of you are going to enjoy this beautiful cruise around the seven seas! I promise you that you won't want to get off!"

Rin began getting in his grill. "Hey, what the fuck is all of this anyway? Like, what's even the point of any of this."

"The point?" Monokuma said, voice down to a whisper, looking upset as the skater man-handled him. "The point is that violence against the headmaster is forbidden!"

"Rin, watch out!" her sister cried, and the skater threw the bear away, and cartwheeled backwards to get further away from him. The headmaster exploded, right in front of everybody's eyes.

"Oh great..." Masaru teared up, "The thing just... kaboom, just like that."

"What the fuck?" Satsuki dryly commented.

"Did you just waste the one chance we had at possibly figuring out whats happening?" Ryunosuke asked. "Idiot. I'm surrounded by idiots... unfashionable idiots."

"Nope, I'm perfectly fine guys!" Monokuma said, appearing once more in front of the class. "But let this little incident serve as a warning, do that again and I actually will off one of you bastards."

After everyone calmed themselves down, the bear spoke some more.

"Though there is one way for you to get off this cruise, though I'm not even sure why you'd want to, since all your needs will be taken care of here..."

"And what would that be?" Togami asked.

"Well, we could play a game."

Another flinch from Tessai, and some further back and forth, the crowd of students behind the millionaire and the self-proclaimed headmaster muttering and gossiping.

"Anyway, the only rules are these. One, the students are to spend the rest of their lives on this cruise ship peacefully. Two, the only way to get off is to disturb the peace and commit murder. Three, once a murder is committed the blackened who did it must evade notice. Four, violence against the headmaster is forbidden. Five, nighttime is from 10 PM to 7 AM some areas are off-limits at night. Six, with minimal interference you may explore this ship to your leisure. Seven, new rules may be added if necessary."

As the bear explained the rules of his "game" the murmurs only grew, and they grew slowly and morphed into terror as it dawned on them all that to leave the boat they were now trapped on they had to commit murder, one of the most ghastly actions known to mankind...

"Anywho... that wraps it up for this entrance ceremony. I wish you luck on you Killing Cruiseline Vacation!" And thus, he disappeared exactly as he had arrived, instantly in a cloud of smoke.

In his place he left a box. A few of my classmates rushed up to the box to investigate and they discovered it contained electronic student IDs, all labelled with out names to use. On them were a set of personal report cards listing the owners height and weight, likes and dislikes. All of that sort. And currently the only other page on it was the rules page, which reiterated what he told us earlier.

And that was how the nightmare aboard the cruise ship of despair began. A thick air of worry, puzzlement, and despair clouded us as we considered... for probably the first real time in our lives, the very real possibility that they could come to an end.


	2. Ch. 1: On The High Seas (ab)normal days- Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Killing Cruise Trip has begun! This is how the first day went down.

Flicking through my handbook I noticed on each of the student profiles it contained listed their talent. All of them except for Tessai Togami, who has claimed not to remember ever being invited to attend school with us. On his profile it listed him as the Ultimate ???, either this meant not even Monokuma knew his talent, or the bear was purposely hiding what it was from everyone.

Quickly, as if everybody put down their electronic handbooks away at exactly the same time, the atmosphere grew even more tense. All eyes seemed to be laser locked on Togami, waiting for him to make a move. He just stood, arms crossed and eyes closed. He chuckled a bit under his breathe.

"Oh yeah, what's so damn funny guy?" Masaru piped up, face growing red.

"It's just that I know what all of you are thinking about me right now, and I can assure you that your assumptions are absolutely false."

"And just what do you think we're thinkin' bout ya?!" the paleontologist exclaimed, taking steps toward the most mysterious among us until a large, beefy hand took a spot on his shoulder, leaving the fiery redhead cold in his tracks.

"I agree that circumstances regarding Mr. Togami are strange, Mr. Taira. But he has not yet done anything to betray our trust in him." the blacksmith spoke in a monotone.

Masaru lightened up, nervously grinning and rubbing the back of his neck. "Er, yeah, I guess you're right about that." Then, he walked nonchalantly toward Togami, all eyes on the two of them. "No hard feeling pal?" he asked, hand out.

Togami took the hand, shook once promptly. "I guess so. To be truthful with you all..."

"So you've been lying to us?" wondered Rin out loud.

"Ew, no, let him finish you gross hood rat." replied Ryunosuke, plugging his nose.

"Eh, what's wrong with being a hood rat?" asked Nori, glaring at the Model.

Our resident DJ, Eizen, couldn't help but join in and rib on Rin a bit. "I know my old teachers used to say that there was no such thing as a stupid question, but my dawg, that was legit a stupid question."

Togami sighed, pushing his glasses up. "As I was saying... if I were in your situation, I would be suspicious of myself too. I can't tell you how we all wound up here, and I can't even tell you if I'm your classmate. But if we're going to get out of here without any casualties, we need to have a basic trust, am I correct?"

There was a murmur of agreement. And so Tessai decided to continue. "Anyway, we should probably go and explore this boat to get a little better of an understanding for what we're dealing with terrain wise. I propose that we split up into four groups of four, that way everyone will have eyes on them at all times."

The shortest girl in the class jumped up, "The stars say that I can agree to this!"

Clearing his throat, Togami finished. "If there are any objections to me being an unofficial leader after this, feel free to speak up about it."

There was no verbal disagreement with this plan. What did happen however was a handful of people volunteering themselves to head their own expedition teams: These were (in order): The Yonai Sisters, Floria, and Yoshi. After the leaders for each group were set people marched themselves over to their preferred group. I wound up with Tessai, Kuri, and Chisote.

The Yonais picked up the security guard and the thief, Baito and Satsuki. Floria was joined by Ryunosuke, Seiki, and Ai. And Yoshi's team consisted of Masaru (who seemed to be getting along with him very well) as well as Nori and Eizen.

Togami looked ready and prepared once everyone shuffled to their preferred teams. But today had a way of keeping him interrupted. It was one of our own this time, as opposed to a demented Teddy Bear, as Kuri begged to know if there could be team names for each squad. At first the rich man insisted there not be any, as this was only a temporary arrangement created solely to make exploration easier and more manageable.

She persisted, telling him that names will help identify the findings of each team and who got the information, in case it turned out  to be false later. Her argument proved persuasive, though something told me he just wanted to get this done with so we would not waste any time that could be spent on investigation.

This lead to our team becoming known as "Team Pointy-Hair", The Yonai's as "Team Peas-in-a-Pod", Floria's being "Team Classy", and Yoshi's being "Team Honor". At the very least it showed Kuri as... creative.

The others seemed to know a great deal more about the layout of this ship than I did, having been rushed through it after being stuck in a half-asleep state by a zany teenage girl. It seemed that the Mess Hall was at the very center of this floor of the ship, with the only door inside the large room at the back, and it was surrounded by 16 bedrooms there was a "starboard" (right) and a "port" (left) sides of the hall, and a staircase going down (or up in the case of the portside staircase) a level.

Each team was told to do a sweep until they came to one of those doors, two teams were to go up and two teams were to go down and once past the stairs they'd split up and find each other on the other side.

Team Pointy Hair was the first team to head downward to below the "main floor" as it was to be labelled. Kuri made sure to stay close to me, seemingly having formed a bond as she was the first person I met here. She'd been helpful so far. I leaned over to her, "What do you think is going on with all this?"

She quirked a brow and ran a hand through her chestnut colored hair, patting down a slight swoop in the middle of her head. "Well, I once saw a prank show kind of like this on television once. They gathered a bunch of people together and told them to do bizarre challenges just so the audience would laugh at the bizarre reactions and activities."

"Yeah, but a prank like this seems... taking things a bit too far, what happens if somebody is actually killed?"

"Well... there are all these cameras laying around..." she said. That part finally hit me. Whoever set this up was definitely watching us closely with those monitors. They had been in the Mess Hall as well. Whoever was behind those was the one controlling this Monokuma guy for certain. She finished off her rambling as I came back from my train of thought. "But I won't tell you what to believe, those were just my thoughts."

"I just think all of this is disturbing." I quipped.

We were in yet another hallway, this one just as cramped as the one on the floor above it. When she pointed out a "Stepladder" to me.

"I think that's just a regular ladder."

"And the distinction here is?"

"A stepladder is smaller than a regular ladder."

Chisote noticed a handle sticking out of the wall, attached directly to a door that would have blended in perfectly with the wall had it not been plastered with "Storage Room- Keep Out" across the space it occupied.

Togami opened it up, and the so-called Headmaster poofed out of thin air and gave him a warning to stop because we weren't allowed to open that part yet. And then he forced us all down the hallway some more, pushing us into an open door and throwing us into the Shopping Center, a room that looked much like a court in the mall or an anime conventions vendor hall. Several small stores or booths were scattered about selling a bunch of different things, each staffed with its own Monokuma.

Some of them sold electronic games, toys, stuffed animals (all Monokuma variations) food, and... weapons.

Togami took one look at that particular stand and said "We need to shut it down."

I smirked. "What, the weapons shop or the Monokuma merch store?"

The Monokuma vendor raised its paw to me in a mildly threatening manner, "I heard that you bastard." he said, "The manager will be hearing about this pal."

Togami went into a janitors closet and threw a tarp over the weapons stand, marking it with a paper sign reading "Do Not Touch" on it, saying that we should be moving on but it was important that nobody sneaks anything out of it. I helped to smooth it out before we left the vendors hall out the door on the other side and came around the hallway.

Another room on this floor appeared to be some kind of infirmary, walls lined up with hospital beds and various types of equipment, stethoscopes, defibrillators, gauze, medications, needles... I stopped thinking about the last one for a little bit and turned to Chisote standing beside me.

She calculated that if about half a dozen of us came down with some bug there would be enough in here to help those people, but beyond that we better just hope for the best.

"Yeah, or we could save a potential murder victim."

"Oh soooorry dude. Yeah, maybe we could do that too in here."

I mentally cursed my own big mouth, I hadn't meant to come across as that much of a snarky hardass, but apparently she took it that way. It was difficult to get a reading on her emotions so far, she seemed all over the place in terms of temperament.

The last open room on this floor seems to be a boiler room. Kuri practically ran inside behind us. "Ah look, I bet this is where we get hot water for baths and noodles!"

Aside from the genki girl of the group informing us of the obvious, there seemed to be two levels to this, one we were standing on and one directly above us that had a separate walkway, and most likely another door we haven't gotten to examine yet leading to it.

This seemed to be the end of the line as the only place the path led was deeper into the humid room and to a door with a gargantuan chain lock around the handles that was clearly visible even from where we were standing.

There also appeared to be another floor below us but the stairs were blocked off by metal fencing, meaning we had to turn back around. We followed the route around to the opposite side of the Vendor's hall and went back up the stairs, catching a glimpse of one of the other groups heading inside the hall.

We then headed up one story, going back to the Mess Hall to congregate with everyone else and report what we had found with them.

At the meeting it was concluded that there was still no known way out, but that tomorrow we would investigate the chain lock in the boiler room, due to it seeming highly out of place. However, it was also getting late into the night and Tessai knew that Monokuma would be here any minute to close down access to this part of the ship, so he forced us to leave to our rooms rather quickly. But he did say that he expected all of us to be out early for breakfast time together.

The two upstairs teams reported that they had found a rec room filled with magazines, billiard tables, air hockey, and a broken TV set. As well as a swimming pool. The boys on that team reported that the lighting in their locker room next to it was less than ideal and may be giving out. They also said that Monokuma told them it was one of the restricted areas come nighttime, because he didn't want anything "indecent" happening in there or the locker room.

Why keeping sexual conduct from happening on this cruise down was a goal but encouraging murder was a-okay was completely lost on me.

I took myself to my room, finally realizing how tired I felt after looking the place up and down and encountering the weapons shop and all the trouble that brought. I wished that I would wake up tomorrow and find that this was just a bad dream, but it wasn't.

Besides, that cliche would be anti-climactic for a story like this. No, the killing game had barely even begun that night, within the next day or so we would find out about the first life taken aboard this ship. But I should wait to tell you about that, as the morning after that night is when the plan to murder _that person_ began to be put into motion, having been lingering in the first blackened's heart since the very beginning of this ordeal.

The morning announcement, and with it Monokuma's obnoxious voice, rang throughout my room, forcing me awake. I muttered to myself something along the lines of "Oh my god... all of this is real. This is actually happening." Before sitting up and glancing through the one window in my room, giving my a view of nothing but blue waters as far as the eye could see.

I sarcastically commented under my breathe, "Wow, nothing enhances the beauty of the ocean like being trapped in a floating metal murder prison."

That's when he interrupted me, promptly making everything about this morning even worse.

"Upupupu, glad you're coming around and starting to enjoy this Mr. Funane."

I was about to ask him how he got into my room, but I sighed and said "Nevermind, I know exactly how you did this."

"Glad to know that senpai noticed my uncanny ability to appear anywhere! I'm grateful! So here, have this present, I made it special for you!"

It was some kind of wooden Monokuma doll that looked like it was meant to be twisted open. I pocketed it for later.

And with that, he left me. He didn't even use the door. Which kind of figures, I never remembered seeing the bear ever open or close a door for that matter, this whole time. Ignoring that inconvenience I opened my door and took a step out into the brightly lit hallway. Where I was met with an incredibly worried looking Kuri telling me that I should come to the Mess Hall for breakfast and expressed her concern that somebody (specifying not me, she felt safe with me) might try to kill her later today specifically, or "soon enough" more generally.

She was shaking and I felt the urge to hug her, but she immediately ducked away again towards where she said the others were already supposedly gathered.

So I just followed behind her, wondering why it was that whenever we were in a hallway that she was always running. Hopefully this wouldn't turn into too much of an issue, it'd be nice if she slowed down and enjoyed our time together more, I wound up thinking to myself.


	3. Ch. 1: On The High Seas (ab)normal days- Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The motives are delivered and read out at the class meeting. Takumi hangs out with Masaru and has lunch with Tessai.

Just like yesterday, I was the last student in the room. But this time all of them were sat surrounding the table, and I walked up trying to ascertain the mood. As opposed to the confusion of yesterday, there was a certain dreariness this morning was caused by knowing that we were brought here to kill each other and an uneasiness about if someone would actually go through with something like that. Though, for some the edge was dulled by gaining the trust of, at the very least, their small group of friends that met via yesterday's "teams".

I sat on the end of one of the long sides, Togami at the head of the table next to me, situationed between him and Kuri, who stared intently at the Monokuma figure she placed on the table.

Tessai stood up. "Alright everyone, the class meeting is now in session for discussion over breakfast, which you can see is over there." he pointed across the room to a veritable feast of pancakes, syrup, eggs, sausage, and more. My mouth watered as he went on, "The topic is the "motive" that has been passed around the class by our so-called headmaster, who is currently bent on seeing us die."

"So uh, how exactly are these things motives?" wondered Nori

Tessai appeared to be holding back a sigh. "Did he not explain how to open it to you?"

"Nope, I wasn't listening..." the delinquent sighed with a wistful regret.

"Well... I found out how, so if you all would just twist the head off, and pull out the roll of paper inside. On that paper is writing informing you of something that allegedly happened to one or more loved ones. I wish for all of you to read them out loud to make sure none of you are hiding anything, so that we can trust that you won't kill." he looked sternly, hands steepled and rested on the table in front of him. "So I shall go first. Mine told me that the Togami Family name has been permanently destroyed, to the point that nobody shall remember it. And that next to none of my family save for myself has survived at this point in time."

He turned to me, seeming to want me to go next, so I complied.

_Your father's health is still declining, he won't live more than a week. So get cracking and kill someone to see him again!_

That has been true for a couple of years now, but to kill over that? ...

We continued in a clockwise manner, Kuri going next after popping her doll open, stuttering. "Not a single person in this world l-loves you. You're just lucky the orphanage hated y-you enough to let you accept the Fortunate River letter, otherwise you would have met with their same fiery fate. Ms. Forgettable and Average. "

Then Chisote, who's firm went under as a financial failure after "elite hacker groups" targeted them during what the motive described as The Single Worst Data Breach in History, which was directly linked to her oversight.

She was followed by Ryunosuke giving the proverbial bird to Monokuma by dunking the doll into the coffee bean grinder and making a huge show about how much he didn't give a shit about the killing game, which clearly miffed Tessai to no end. But we all just accepted we wouldn't hear his motives.

Next up was the DJ, revealing that Monokuma claims terrorists had bombed out his radio station. The message concluded with "The music doesn't play any more".

After him it was the twins turn, and as it turns out they got theirs in the form of a "Siamese Twin" Monokuma with two heads, which Marisa sarcastically dubbed as 'absolutely hilarious'. Their message claims to not trust the other sister, because she was directly responsible for bringing the family to ruin, and would soon betray the other horrifically.

Masaru's "buddies in paleontology and archaeology are exactly what they loved to study, ancient history!"

Baito sat out because he claimed he did not wish to be a further burden on his fellow comrades by making them worry about his own trivial problems.

Yoshi decided to respect that as an honorable thing to do, but decided that he should tell us his own. Which turned out that one of his valued customers, a yound woman from a rich family, was slain on purpose by a man who crashed a car into her bike on the way to his shop, and directly blamed him for setting up the scenario in which the killing was made possible.

Satsuki sat out "For the fun of it" to put it in her words.

Ai Mikumi was the last one remaining in her school of Astrologers, their ancient techniques set to die as soon as she dies. And Seiki's Monastery met an eerily similar fate.

Nori, in quite the surprise refused to talk for once, when prodded about it she shook her head and looked like she had seen a ghost.

Floria finished off the readings with her own abstinence from participation, wishing to move on and discuss what precautions we should take to prevent a murder instead of wasting time worrying about the allegations Monokuma gave us.

How do I trust all of this information though, why does an animatronic toy bear know about this, but more importantly it shows what was actually behind this. Someone 'in the know' with a lot of data. It dawned on them finally that the sneaking suspicion was correct.

The mastermind was somebody important, somebody powerful, and somebody with access to information and vast resources, likely funded by themselves or outsiders.

Still Floria continued, bringing me back into the present moment. "He's probably trying to set up a scenario where we only trust those that divulged their so-called secrets. In my opinion, it is not necessary for us to do so, because with so many people here having clear and easy to grasp motives it would be irrational to nail down the 5 of us that refused to speak of what we read."

She definitely had a point.

"Hmm, well, in that case I can't be too upset." Tessai said, crossing his arms, "I'm not in any authority to actually force people here to do anything against their will. For I would be as bad as the enemy we face, who has held us captive against our wills." the billionaire sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So, next on the list is today's agenda."

Kuri interjected. "Aside from mealtimes like now, lunch, and dinner I think most of the day should be spent freely among ourselves to relax."

"A-ah, Kuri-chan has the best ideas! I can finally get to setting up astrological readings!" Ai beamed.

Masaru added, "Yeah, I could use a break from thinking about the possibility I'll become one of my own fossils, too much of that makes me feel gloomy." he smiled too, chuckling and holding his arms bach behind him to rest his head on.

Rin stewed over this in thought, sad that there were no good locations to skate in due to the cramped hallways. "W-wait," she realized, cogs turning in her head. "What if we drain out the pool so I can skate in that?"

"E-er, I w-was actually going to swim there." objected Chisote.

"Huh? You didn't seem like much of a swimming person Misses Gadget." the skater commented.

Chisote's ahoge's wilted and she blushed. "W-well, yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she got flustered, voice raising, "I-is it because you thought I spent all my time inside?"

Rin finally seemed to get the hint. "Oh, n-no" she raised her hands up defensively, waving that away, "I never meant it like that." Marisa rested a hand on her shoulder to signal to leave it there.

After that situation diffused, Tessai encouraged us to grab as much food as we wanted from the buffet and to chat while we ate. Which raised the question of "Where did this food come from" and "Who made it?"

He admitted that it was there as soon as he arrived first thing in the morning, but that he never saw anybody laying it out. This led to the conclusion that it was Monokuma's doing (as the overwhelming majority of happenings on this ship were) and worry among my classmates that it could be some kind of trap, laced with poison. But not Nori, she was ready to chow down, and begun even as people were talking about how it might be lethal.

She shoveled the eggs and pancakes onto a plate and drowned it in syrup before stabbing it with the fork and continuing it's trip into her digestive system. Not immediately keeling over lead to others (including myself) trying it too.

It was fine, as it turned out. Meaning the so-called headmaster definitely didn't want to do the killing himself. He was sewing enough paranoia to get us to do his dirty work. Even breakfast ("the most important meal of the day") the killing game hung over like a specter. So I was glad when the free time started and I could hang out with the others to discuss much lighter matters.

I found Masaru lingering the hallway in front of his room, and he came up to me, saying that things really felt wild and out of hand, but that he wanted to "Fuggidaboutit"

We talked about what we wanted to be as children, with him admitting he looked up to Sports stars and would frequently get indecisive about Baseball or Soccer. Whereas I can only ever remember holding the goal to "be like my dad" and take his spot as the go-to prosecutor for cases in our home precinct. Somewhere along the line though he changed his mind finding that he loved old dusty books and digging for shit more than Running around a diamond or pitch.

He laughed, "But it seems like I've always loved getting myself caked in dirt. That's totally fun!"

A few more chuckles and cracks exchanged, he seemed to suddenly get more tense and acting paranoid, he changed the subject to how I shouldn't be trusting Togami. He stayed quiet and composed, but his speech was a borderline tirade, connecting the Togami Family owning this boat to Tessai's alleged forgotten talent. Claiming that his amnesia was totally faked and he was aware of what was going on.

I tried to dissuade him, and he eventually dropped the topic after pondering ominously aloud whether "More of us could be in on this." I decided to pursue a line of questioning leading to a new topic aligning with his interests.

He seemed to get better, going along and even showing me his room. Items of particular importance to him were stored in this wooden box. He has a bird fossil, a sacred text, and (his favorite and most prized specimen) a trilobite. "Ya can't go wrong with these fellas, such beauties they are."

I left him in a good mood, and after remembering the vending machine in the mess hall I offered to grab us both a cold soda. He accepted, and we parted ways after he crushed his can against his helmet. The discussion we had was enlightening, and I feel we understand each other a sliver better. Feeling more comfortable with people here was my end goal, because I want to believe and trust every one of them. It's the best way to avoid drama and stay alive.

I took a break in my room, sighing at the ocean beyond my sight, glancing over at the poorly drawn Intro Ceremony invitation of yesterday. I crumpled that up and recycled it. There was still plenty of time before lunch. It wouldn't hurt to go and do another exploration to double check all of the previous day's information.

I traveled downward, winding up looking into the infirmary again, discovering Tessai was there counting up all the supplies and taking notes down with a pen and notepad. He paused operations for a moment. "Oh, Takumi. You're here now. I've been meaning to talk to you."

I obliged him.

"Something I didn't want to bring up in front of the others, because they don't need to know." he seemed serious, I hoped he wasn't dropping anything too heavy, like a murder plan.

It wasn't. "Well, a few things actually. It seems there was a hidden bottle of poison in the medicine cabinet, but I got rid of that because I knew what he wanted to happen by putting it there."

He held on to my shoulder, and turned away from the camera watching us, whispering directly into my ear. He was likely afraid a microphone would pick up our discussion. "The second is about the boiler room, I'm going to try and open the chains."

My only choice was to murmur back to him "R-really? Wouldn't finding a key be easier?"

"No, he's most likely hidden the key in a place far outside our reach. There's something end game level huge in there, by my calculations. I want to put pressure on him."

"You think? Then why is the boiler available to us all from the get go?"

"A false sense of security. It's part of his mind game. But I'm going to break his mind game."

He lead me out of the room and abruptly switched topics to what it was we were doing with our lives before they got so rudely interrupted. I told him all about my goals and hopes, and how I was the rising star in my field, adding more prestige to a legacy. He snickered.

"Oh, I know all too well about legacies Takumi. Legacy is my blood."

"Right... your family."

"He may claim my bloodline is over and ruined. However... my fuzzy memories seem to say that's not true."

"Fuzzy memories?"

"The last thing I can recall before waking up here was a voice. I believe it to have been a family member's. Which told me that we must reunite after our respective so-called trials. It is my working theory that this killing game is what my trial is."

"Was it Byakuya's?"

"Possibly... I never talked to him much, to be totally honest. The structure of the family wasn't one that really lent itself to siblings communicating with each other during the younger years. Too competitive. And I had been too busy working my post to see him in person, only keeping in contact through the mail regarding business matters."

"Ah, your post at the Company? Maybe that would describe your talent?"

"Hmm... maybe, but that's not a definitive thing. I was in the upper management for the Travel and Hospitality Department."

"That... ooh", I see why he hadn't brought this up at the meetings and just left off with not knowing his talent. "What did you think when you woke up on this boat?"

"Honestly I was as confused as you all were, because I was going to a meeting, and definitely was NOT in the middle of the ocean on a cruise ship."

We headed towards the Mess Hall to grab lunch, as it was coming to be that time of day now. A few others had gathered and stayed to eat at the tables, while others took off to their rooms with their meals instead. We encountered Ai hogging a bunch of pizza slices, and Seiki trying desperately to persuade the short girl to share.

The two of us chatted regarding what we did for free time when we were at home. As I suspected, he never got much, but kept himself occupied with newspapers and books. I told him about how I tended to surf the web searching for music when not studying law or working on a case. Mainly Rock and Roll. And yet another topic of discussion came up with favorite drinks. Tessai had a refined taste in imported teas while my preference was with coffee and a bar of chocolate. I was right in the middle of explaining this when Kuri added herself to our discussion by sitting next to me.

It was not exactly unwelcome, considering we were all friends here. But the flow was definitely a little different temporarily. Nothing much of note happened here other than her asking what we were talking about, us explaining it, and her commentary. (And thanking me for the previously mentioned idea with chocolate bars with coffee.) Lunch went rather well, and I forgot for a time that we were in the midst of the murder game. Of course, Monokuma wouldn't allow us too much respite.

The speakers crackled on a few hours after lunch, while I was resting on my bed and staring at the ceiling lost in thought, door locked just in case. The speakers switching on was never a good sign. I got up and walked out, but not before stealing a glance at the clock on my wall. Aside from that and my window there was no way to see what the time was, and my window was currently covered by blinds I put up because the vast blueness was beginning to make me sick. But that's beside the point, I stood in the hall and listened to the so-called principals voice on the hall's speaker.

"Alright, come back to the mess hall for your dinner kids. Monokuma and the Fortunate River Academy Travel Committee have a special announcement!"

The dinner was a buffet as usual, burgers, fries, salads, steak. The whole shebang. Monokuma seemed to not be there, so many were confused and decided to just get on with the eating, about half the class having taken at least one bite before the Headmaster arrived on the stage, with the same amount of fanfare as his initial appearance, lights, smoke. He really was a showoff.

"Alright class, now that you're seated and eating... its been rather boring around here lately... so I wanted to make sure something fun happened." Knowing that we probably had differing versions of fun, this was a bad sign. "You have mmm... let's say 24 hours to commit a murder before I add another special motive on top of the previous one. So get killing! Get despairing!"

And he was gone.

I wasn't sure what this "special motive" was supposed to be, but I figured out fairly quickly that it wasn't even the main point to his announcement for us. That was just an afterthought, the real thing to worry about was the sudden speeding up the process by adding a time limit. And why did it take so long for him to come? More time flew by in a blur and I went to sleep that night.

I was tossing and turning. Aside from the immediate, surface-level fear of being kidnapped and threatened with death there was something deeper.

The actions of the person or persons responsible was unsettling. Most terrorists are straightforward and declare what they want out of their victims. The only thing this bear spoke of was killing and despair for the sake of it, combine that with his erratic appearances and timing and it's like he's...

My train of thought was interrupted by sudden light rapping on my door, and the sound of something being slipped underneath the crack. I shot up out of bed. Who did that and for what purpose? Finding that out became my purpose.

I crawled onto the floor and picked up the paper, bringing it to my desk and turning on my lamp. It was a handwritten note.

_I can't let a killing happen. Takumi, my plan has to go into action immediately. Meet me downstairs. - Tessai Togami_

It looked like it was scrawled out fairly quickly, and I looked up at the clock. It was 2 in the morning.

If it was now or never for this boiler room thing, it looks like I need to go now.


	4. Ch. 1: On the High Seas (ab)normal days- Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of the night Takumi is awakened and slipped a note, according to which Tessai has now sped up his plan to break open the mysterious locks and needs help. Soon though, he learns that something is off about what was happening and is knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, he's been framed for murder.

I opened my door just a crack, peaking out to scan the hallway. Nothing was found on the preliminary check, so I swung it open more, taking small steps.

The hall was clear, but there was creaking, I was restless yet only half awake. It took all my effort not to be skittish and retreat from the noise. I calmed myself down by reminding myself that I was on a ship, meaning that the creaking was just the wooden floorboards and not an indication that anybody else was nearby. I went towards the stairs that would travel downwards as asked.

I kept to the wall, running my hand along it to navigate in the dark.

It was hard to tell what was happening with the lights off, but someone appeared to be downstairs. I couldn't be sure it was Tessai though from this distance.

They rounded a corner and I stepped forward. A thought ran through my head _this is not right, this is a trap._

I tripped over something, and knocked myself out. Dazed, I try to continue crawling past the object, my head throbbing.

I could feel blood, I wasn't sure what hit me.

_I'm going to die, I'm going to die._

A loud pop echoed throughout the hallways, I wasn't sure which direction it had come from. I wasn't even sure if it happened on this floor.

_Gun, somebody found a gun. Gun or fireworks, I hope its just fireworks._

It came from everywhere, but also nowhere in particular. And after what felt like weeks from the initial explosion there was a thud against... somewhere. And then dragging.

Something or someone was being dragged across the floor. Then as soon as it started it seemed like it stopped and was replaced with footsteps.

_Was this happening? What was this?_

I wish I could see something. But I couldn't. The only sensation was pain in my forehead and drowsiness. That was until I felt something slipped into my hand.

Something cold and metallic. And then I passed out, I was unable to continue going on.

\-----------------

There was blackness, a void full of nothingness. And a strange tingling sensation.

I opened my eyes into this world as it turned grainy, like an old photograph. There were trees and birds, and a river. It seemed like I was in the back of the Fortunate River Academy, in its gardens. It felt familiar, and free. But there was a problem...

I'd never been there before. Er, or here, I would guess. I never got the time to go behind the school yet, I had just been walking into the front door when it happened.

I took in the surroundings, dream-like fog now replacing the graininess. I look to my side and see... not Kuri, Chisote, Masaru or Tessai, as I had been expecting to see. Though, on that topic, I believe now that I was expecting to see them because they are the ones I spent the most time with on the cruise at the time this was happening. But no, it wasn't them at all. Standing a few feet behind me was... Ryunosuke.

"Hey, Takumi! You done stretching your legs out? Floria and I set up the picnic already." he said.

I smiled, "Yeah!" I said, "I just get sucked up into my own thoughts when in a setting like this. It's so beautiful."

He smiled and laughed back, putting an arm around my shoulder. "You know friend, most people say that Hope's Peak has the most lovely campus in the country. But I vehemently disagree with that. Our campus here is so gorgeous."

_What is this?_

My thoughts seemed like they were a completely different from my current words and actions. It was like I was watching myself in a movie.

_When did this happen?_

That was an odd thought. "This" technically wasn't even happening, as I felt myself aware that I was dreaming. Not only that, but the only time this dream could be happening is right now... and I've never had one like it before.

"Haha, Takumi, hey buddy. You're staring into space again. You okay?" Ryunosuke snickered, pulling a bag of chips from the basket and popping it open, eating a handful. He seemed... different from how he acted outside of this vision. He didn't mind the crumbs that now covered his scarf. Back on the boat he had been really snobby and over-protective of his fancy-shmancy clothing, never wanting to dirty them.

Floria welcomed the two of us, welcoming us to the picnic celebrating "One year of friendship" and telling us about a couple of upcoming events she was supposed to be at. The school's basketball game, the baseball game the day after that, and she had an interview with a "protester" about something coming up. Something about reforming...

I never got to hear what this something was. Her words became garbled, A sound like static interference overwhelmed it. The images in my head faded again. Until eventually there was just more nothingness.

I have no clue why but emotions welled up inside of me. I felt tears running down my face. But there was nothing I could do to bring myself back to that scene. It seemed like a normal school life. I wanted that life...

_Was that my life in another place and time?_

But I felt dread that I was going to wake up again and go back to the killing game.

Back to Monokuma

Back to feeling trapped

Worst of all, back to dying, dying of a horrible throbbing pain and my own vulnerability, stumbling through that hall like a moron. I didn't realize that leaving my room might be suicide, but now it was clear the killer was targeting me, and the next time I wake up I hope to see who they are, if not just to be able to spite them in the afterlife as a ghost. Give them a little bit of hell before moving on.

\--------------------

A faint sound played.

"A body has been discovered!" It was the so-called headmaster. But who's body was it? Was it me?

I felt my eyes open, despite feeling like they already had been open this entire time. Light poured into my sight and illuminated a crowd of people surrounding me. I mentally jumped, multiple people? Wasn't there just one? Did they chase away the culprit?

"O-oh my god did you?" Floria's hand clasped over her mouth. Everyone else seemed equally shocked.

"This isn't cool at all dude, I thought better of you." Eizen tsked, tapping his foot.

_What are you guys talking about?_

I thought that, but all I could do was groan, I wanted to ask them what was wrong.

Masaru's expression was covered in pain, and a look of conflict. "D-did... he died right? Then why is Monokuma still? Could it be he's not?"

Chisote ran up to the group. "I checked in on the corpse. The scene is exactly how we found it. I wonder why he was in there."

_Corpse?_

Baito and Satsuki helped me up again. This time bringing me to a chair.

"Are you aware of what is happening?" the guard asked.

I shook my head. "No sir."

"Well..." he took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair. "There's been a murder, and it looks like you're the prime suspect." he said.

_Prime... suspect?_

"We shall escort you to the crime scene and look over you to make sure you do not tamper with any of the evidence. This trial is going to be as fair as we can make it."

Kuri followed behind the three of us, leading Satsuki to inquire what she was doing. The brunette told her that she believed me to be innocent and wanted to help find the exonerating evidence. I thanked the gods for her existing. Kuri's eyes glistened, was she about to cry?

"But first..." the thief says, pulling out a clear plastic bag and showing off the contents. "Do you recognize this? It is thought to be the murder weapon, and it was found in your hands while you were asleep."

_In my hands?_

The object was a gun. Specifically, a single-shot pistol. And there was only one possibility for where the bullet was... and that was inside the corpse of the victim. I tried to get a headcount and it appeared that almost everyone was here. There was one person surprisingly not present. Tessai, normally he would be leading efforts to investigate in a situation like this.

I would then find out it was exactly like I feared it would turn out when I noticed him being out of the picture. They took me down the hallway and opened up that mysterious door Monokuma had stopped us from entering previously. Inside was Tessai Togami, laying flat on his back, blood pooled under his head that was mangled by a wound in his forehead, his glasses shattered. His legs were tucked under his body, it looked like he fell and crumpled backwards onto that spot. Nearby him a spotless wood desk sat up against the back wall.

I began to look more closely, feeling the guard's piercing gaze through my back. It was hard to believe that something like this had happened so immediately, it was hard not to feel anger at this. Someone I had just gotten to know was taken away: suddenly and brutally, and now I stand accused of killing him due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To me it was obvious it was a set-up, but to everyone else...

I was used to being a prosecutor, but now I'm going to have to act as my own defense attorney.

It made me wonder what he was thinking in his last moments. What exactly he was trying to do and why. How much did he really know? And what was his talent anyway?

I looked at the class behind me and I promised them that not only would I prove myself innocent of this, I would find conclusive evidence pinpointing the real killer. And I think I put on a pretty good show of confidence, despite internally feeling far less confident and more afraid than I ever have been.


End file.
